1. Technical Field
The invention is related to a system and method of customizing a software program, in this case a presentation program, to allow a presenter to control the presentation and view the presented material in ways the audience does not by employing two displays.
2. Background Art
By way of background, an electronic presentation is typically made up of several electronic “slides” that are similar to the slides presented in a non-electronic presentation. For example, these electronic slides employ the use of bullets or text paragraphs and graphics such as charts. However, electronic presentations also have a multitude of other features such as animation, graphical effects and automatic presentation timing that enhance the presentation experience for both the presenter and the audience.
Another aspect of presenting is the use of speaker's notes. Speakers sometimes use these speaker's notes in conjunction with their presentation of the slides in either an electronic or non-electronic presentation to be reminded of additional information that they wish to be reminded of while speaking, but do not wish to put on the slide itself. Since the notes are typically written on paper, as the speaker presents, he often has to shuffle the papers looking for the notes for the current slide. This looks unprofessional and leaves a bad impression with the audience. Many presenters do not use speaker notes at all for this reason.
When presenters deliver computer-based presentations using a projector, they must typically either watch the presentation on the same screen that the audience views, or they must view the presentation on a computer monitor or laptop screen. In each of these situations, the presenters view the same presentation as the audience, and are unable to use their computer to control the flow of the show. Some presentation software allows the presenter to view the presentation editing screen to edit the presentation while the audience sees it, but the presenter cannot control the flow of the presentation during this editing process.
Presenting to a large audience can be a difficult task. While speaking, the presenter must view and control an on-screen presentation while simultaneously focusing attention on the audience. Many presenters find that these demands and limitations inhibit their ability to narrate their presentation effectively.
Among presenters' complaints with electronic presentation software is the inability to determine what the next bullet or graphic on a slide is if it has not yet been rendered on the display. As a result, the presenter must speak about a bullet, then stop and forward to the next bullet by using some selection device. When the next bullet appears, the presenter reads it, remembers what he or she wanted to say and then speaks. This results in a non-fluent presentation. Another complaint of presenters is that they do not typically know when they have reached the end of the slide. The presenter may not remember that all the bullets on a particular slide have been addressed. The presenter then elects to advance to the next slide when they still wanted to talk about the previous slide. Many presenters do not know how to go forward and backward back in a slideshow. Therefore, they sometimes exit the slideshow and restart it, navigating forward through the presentation until the desired slide is presented.
Another drawback of current presentation software is that presenters are forced to present in the same sequence of slides and cannot customize their presentation to the audience. For example, if the audience looks bored when accounting slides are being presented, the presenter may want to skip over these slides to slides that are of more interest to the audience. Additionally, sometimes a question comes up that is relevant to a slide that the presenter had shown previously, but the presenter often has difficulty returning to, or advancing to, that slide. In order to jump to another slide, the presenter must remember the slide number and enter it on the keyboard or otherwise select the slide number.
Most presenters are given a certain amount of time to present. To keep on schedule, the presenters have to keep looking at their watch, which looks unprofessional. They also have to calculate from the time of day to how long their presentation has gone, in order to determine how much time remains for them to present the material in the presentation.